In attributing works to artists, the general conventions used by auction houses in cataloguing works, have been followed. If the listing shows:
1. The artist's last name and one or more first names, or one or more initials, followed by a series of asterisks, the work(s) listed are attributed to that artist.
2. The artist's last name and one or more initials of the artist's first name indicates that the work(s) listed may possibly be by the artist.
Following these conventions, an artist may be listed several times in the Australian Art Sales Digest depending on the attributions of the work(s) listed. In some cases where it is apparent that the cataloguer was not aware of the artist's first names and used the initials forming part of the signature, the artist's first names have been inserted.
The artist's full or real names as listed may differ from the artist's working name. A working name is an artist's preferred name for public and professional use, and is generally the name with which the artist signs the work. Over an artist's career, several working names may be used, for example in the case of a female artist who subsequently marries and then adopts the husband's last name.
Sometimes in the Australian Art Sales Digest an artist's working name may be shown in brackets as part of the first name(s).
Australian artist's working names are listed in the Australian National Gallery's Artist Working Names Authority List, 1989, and this publication has been used as the authority for any changes to the catalogued spelling of artist's names. Where there are variations in the catalogue spelling of names of Australian aboriginal artists, the book Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert - A Biographical Dictionary by Vivien Johnson, Craftsman House, Sydney 1984, has been used as the authority.
Where a work has been attributed to more than one artist, the artist's last names are listed alphabetically, separated by a slash (/), followed by the artist's first names, also separated by a slash.